XIAOMI: TO SETUP SINGLE BRAND RETAIL STORES IN INDIA

Chinese tech company Xiaomi is set to launch their own branded stores in India. The company has confirmed that it has initiated the process with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and they expect it to be finished within few weeks.

"We have initiated the process and submitted a few documents online. However, this is very preliminary and the process will only be completed over the next few weeks, after which we will be sharing more details," the company said in a report in ET. Xiaomi recently released their phone Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 starting at ₹9999. The company is also set to launch their newest flagship phone Mi 5 next month.

The move follows US technology major Apple's similar application in India. The company sells its devices through select e-commerce platforms and retail stores. India is one of the largest markets for Xiaomi globally, which assembles devices like Redmi 2 and Redmi Note at the manufacturing facility of Foxconn, a leading contract manufacturer.

According to research firm IDC, shipments in India grew 28.8 per cent yoy to 103.6 million units in 2015 compared with 10.1 per cent growth for the global market.

Last year, the government had relaxed the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for single-brand retail.

In January, Apple had filed a proposal seeking permission for single-brand retail and selling products online, but DIPP had sought more information from the technology major due to certain gaps in the application.